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The week began with Omio reporting the HTC Myst #UL was leaked: the 2013 Facebook mobile phone. O2 is already selling second hand BlackBerry Z10 mobile phones for £11, and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 pictures leak. Samsung Galaxy S4 is to have Sony Xperia screen tech and PHOLED display. We updated our article on the Samsung Galaxy S4 specs leak, with a second video posted online – and the Nokia Lumia Windows Phone mobile is now, for only £10.

Earlier on in the week, Samsung Galaxy S4 picture was released by Samsung, and a hands-on video was posted online. Nokia Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 became available to order, free voice calls came to the BlackBerry OS. And we exclusive published the Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 benchmark results.

Midweek, HTC Desire C is now available for £8 a month, on Orange. HTC One will be arriving 2nd of April. Samsung Galaxy S4 registration opened at Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4u, Three, Vodafone – and EE. Android Jelly Bean Google Now is coming to Apple iOS devices. Vodafone drops Samsung Galaxy S3 cost ahead of Galaxy S4 launch, and a new unknown Motorola Android mobile phone has been seen online. Omio published HTC One: unboxing and hands-on walkthrough in pictures.

At the end of the week, we published Samsung Galaxy S4 official pictures, and video walkthrough, the S4’s accessories in pictures. Samsung Galaxy S4 features are coming to Samsung Galaxy S3. Windows Phone 7.8 roll out resumes, with tile bug fix. Samsung Tizen mobile phone is coming in August, and we rounded up all the Samsung Galaxy S4: mobile phone industry reactions.

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The biggest story of the week came from Samsung, launching its flagship Galaxy S4 mobile phone, with a full high-definition 5-inch screen, a octa-core 1.6GHz processor and a 13-megapixel camera – withdual-capture capabilities.

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The next most significant piece was HTC reportedly faced delivery delays on its flagship HTC One mobile phone, which is now shipping on the 2nd of April.

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The third largest news item came when HTC had specifications appeared on-line of a handset called Myst #UL, which is thought to be its upcoming Facebook phone – following on from the HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa.

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The following most significant story was Omio exclusively publishing benchmarking results for the Samsung Galaxy S4 mobile phone, confirming model name, screen size, processor, RAM, memory and version of Android.

Lastly, Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has had its entry level Lumia 510 priced up at Tesco, on a £10 a month contract or for £85, without a 24-month contract.

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By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Sunday, March 17th, 2013 |
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Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokiahas made public that the Windows Phone 7.8 update is being deployed to its older Lumia range of mobile phones – right on schedule.

This new OS is rolling out to the Nokia Lumia 800, 710, 610, 900 and 510, Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ handsets.

The update has been the source of many column inches of late, where Omio reported that it was due to arrive at the end of January, and this has now come to fruition.

O2 confirmed that in a Tweet, where Windows Phone Columbia backed it up on its Facebook page.

Nokia has noted this is rolling out over the next coming weeks, but is already shipping pre-loaded to the new lower-end Lumia 510.

Owners of those other mobile phones are said to receive a message on their devices, encouraging them to get the update.

This is applied by connecting an older Lumia to a PC and running Zune, or the Windows Phone app for Macs, and then following the on-screen instructions.

Windows Phone 7.8 brings in features of the latest Microsoft Windows Phone 8 OS, which is only available on new handsets.

Those are along the lines of the customisable three sizes of live titles, with their 20 different colours. Nokia has added internet sharing; Bluetooth sharing and image enhancements. These are camera extra, Contact Share, Play To and the Nokia City Lens augmented reality app.

UPDATE

Omio has just heard from Nokia that the Windows Phone 7.8 roll out has been suspended.

Ray Haddow, Senior Manager, at Nokia UK Communications states:

“Microsoft has identified a minor issue in the Windows Phone 7.8 update and have temporarily paused delivery until it’s addressed. We’ll have more information as it becomes available“

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Friday, March 8th, 2013 |
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By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Friday, January 25th, 2013 |
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Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC has confirmed its first generation HTC Mozart will also gain the Windows Phone 7.8 update, according to a recent report.

The HTC Mozart was an exclusive handset to Orange in the UK and arrived late in 2010, running Windows Phone 7.

It has a 3.7-inch Super LCD 800 x 260 screen, while powered by a single core 1GHz processor, with 576MB or RAM, 8GB of internal storage and with an 8-megapixel camera.

News of the update coming to the device has been published by Microsoft OS news website WMPoweruser, from a posting on Windows-Phone.pl.

Google Translated version states – “Updating HTC devices with Windows Phone 7 to version 7.8 will take place at the end of February / March“.

“In the case of mobile niebrandowanych update sooner. As of today, the HTC 7 Mozart smartphone is the only one for which it was confirmed by providing updated Windows Phone 7.8.”

Omio has contacted HTC to see if this update will be available to Mozart phones in the UK, and has been received the following statement.

“This is a Microsoft update, which will therefore roll out to all Windows Phone 7 devices.”

The update, in turn, should be coming to the large screen O2 exclusive HTC HD7.

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Thursday, January 24th, 2013 |
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That is the entry-level device that replaces the Lumia 610, where the 510 now sits beneath that model and is thought to be updateable to Windows Phone 7.8.

It has a 4-inch 800 x 480 TFT screen, driven by a single core 800MHz Snapdragon S1 processor, with 256MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and with a 5-megapixel camera.

When we contacted Nokia on the day of its announcement, we were told: “We have no plans to launch the Lumia 510 in the UK”.

With a later statement of – “It’s intended for markets such as China, India and South America, no plan to stock here in the UK.”

Phones 4u has now listed the Lumia 510 on its Coming Soon page – here.

Omio has been in touch with Nokia, which has stated – “Following many requests from consumers we are currently considering ranging the Lumia 510 here in the UK.”

UPDATE:

Phones 4u has now removed the Nokia Lumia 510 from its Coming Soon page.

UPDATE 2:

Nokia has been in touch with us this morning, with the following statement that confirms the Lumia 510 will be arriving in the UK.

“[We] can confirm that we will now be ranging the 510 here in the UK. As yet, we haven’t announced who will be ranging it”

We have also managed to obtain proof of Phones 4u listing the device, thanks to Google cache – see below.

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 |
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This is the first time that a UK network has confirmed Windows Phone 7.8 will be rolling out to its handsets, which includes the 610 (that is still currently available, on pay as you go deals).

7.8 brings in features of Windows Phone 8, such as three new sizes of live titles and their 20 colours – among other aspects, only found on the likes of the Lumia 920, 820 and HTC 8X and 8S.

UPDATE:

Windows Phone Colombia has confirmed on Facebook that Windows Phone 7.8 will be deployed on the 31st of January, as reported by Windows Phone Central.

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013 |
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These are the likes of three new size of tiles on the home screen, with an array of colours to personalise the handset.

Stay tuned to Omio and we’ll bring you more on this update.

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Friday, January 11th, 2013 |
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This information has been gleaned by Microsoft OS news website WMPoweruser, from a posting to Nokia’s Facebook page in Spain.

It states – “Nokia Spain has let the cat out of the bag, and has revealed when the long-awaited Windows Phone 7.8 is coming to current handsets.”

“New handsets being sold by Nokia are already shipping with the OS, and now Nokia Spain has said on their Facebook page that the OS upgrade is planned for January. Somewhat discouragingly however they continued that this would depend on operators, which suggests a slower roll-out that we would hope for.”

“The translation is as below:

Nokia Spain: How is the home screen of your Lumia? http://nokia.ly/10ng9Bi

Diego Hernán: None of these 3. Still waiting for the update of Windows Phone 7.8 that has these home screens, are taking too long!

Curro Valverde: I have a 7.8 for the past couple of weeks … it is great!

Nokia Spain: Diego Hernan, upgrading to 7.8 is planned for January but it depends on the operators.”

Windows Phone 7.8 brings in features from the newest version of that platform – Windows Phone 8 – only to older phones, as they can’t be upgraded to that OS.

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 |
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This information comes from Microsoft mobile OS news website Windows Phone Central, which notes: “The Lumia 610 has been out since mid-2012 and .. it’s been running Windows Phone Tango since that time but like all of Nokia’s phones it’s slated for a 7.8 update.”

“That device is now being sold through various retailers, including Carphone Warehouse UK with the update pre-installed. Reader Joe sent us his extended video tour of the 7.8 OS on the 610”

“No word on the exact timeframe for Windows Phone 7.8 to rollout but we’re expecting some news within the coming weeks, especially with CES and Mobile World Congress just around the corner”, ended the piece.

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Friday, January 4th, 2013 |
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Internet search engine giant Google is now being petitioned by owners of handsets running Windows Phone 7 and the new Windows Phone 8 OS, for support to come to them in the form of popular Google apps.

This has been covered by an article on Microsoft mobile OS news website WMPoweruser, which notes: “To this day, Google has ignored Windows Phone users by making the controversial and arguably anti-competitive decision to not build apps for the platform beyond a very basic search app.”

“[There is now] a petition that the goal is to make Google hear the Windows Phone community and to get them on the path of making polished apps on the Windows Phone platform,” added the publication.

Because consumers exercise choice and use multitude of products from different providers. Sometimes we also pay for those services. It is discrimination against consumers if they are being forced to choose platforms based on eco-system support and not their choice. There is no denying that Windows Phone is a promising platform, but app providers like Google keeping their apps walled to Android or iOS is not helping the consumers. The rivalry between the vendors is their own and consumers shouldn’t be dragged into it.

Google has made public statements about not supporting Windows Phone platform, even to an extent of pulling support for the Exchange Activesync protocol. At the end, the consumer suffer.

Google will do great service to their users and consumers by offering some products on rival platform, notable Google Apps, Drive, Google+ and Google Talk.

Thank You.”

By /*php the_author()*/ ?>Rob KerrcloseAuthor: Rob KerrName: Rob KerrEmail:[email protected]Site:About: Rob Kerr is a journalist with more than 15 years’ experience of news, reviews and feature writing on titles such as Wired, PC Magazine, The Register, The Inquirer, Pocket-Lint, Mobile Industry Review, Know Your Mobile, ITProPortal, OneMobileRing and The Gadget Show. The mobile phone world is his real passion and forte, having owned a handset as far back as 1994 - where he has seen them grow from just a business tool to a necessity in everyone’s everyday life.See Authors Posts (2158) |
Friday, December 28th, 2012 |
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